The Two-Way

7:23 am

Mon January 30, 2012

As San Francisco Picks Up The Pieces, Washington To Evict Occupy Protesters

A defaced bust of former city councilmember Frank Ogawa sits outside Oakland, Calif., City Hall on Sunday.

Noah BergerAP

After a short respite, the Occupy movement had a resurgence this weekend. There was a mass protest in Oakland that extended through Saturday and Sunday and ended with the arrest of more than 400. In New York City, Occupy Wall Street protesters took to the streets last night in solidarity. Twelve were arrested

USA Today reports that during the Oakland protests some people managed to get inside Oakland's city hall. Mayor Jean Quan surveyed the damage, yesterday. The paper reports:

"At a news conference, Quan urged the Occupy movement to 'stop using Oakland as its playground.' In October, police dismantled an Occupy camp in Frank H. Ogawa Plaza.

"Occupy Oakland said in a statement that most arrests were improper because police 'gave no option of leaving or instruction on how to depart.'

"'We have allowed things to really get out of hand," he said, "and the escalation is becoming ... a very dangerous problem for us.'"

The New York Times reports that the protest in that city began at about 7 p.m. ET. at Washington Square Park. On at least a couple of occasions, the paper reports, protesters threw bottles at police.

As they walked through Fifth Avenue, they chanted "New York is Oakland; Oakland is New York."

In Washington, D.C., things will come to a head at noon today. For months, now, occupiers have been camping out in McPherson Square in the center of downtown, but after some in congress complained to the National Park Service, it decided to issue a deadline. It told protesters it would begin enforcing its no-camping rule beginning at noon today.

The Washington Post reports that tensions flared on Sunday, as the deadline loomed. One protester was subdued using an electronic device to stun him and several others were handcuffed.

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